Posted on 03/04/2009 7:57:28 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
CARACAS (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez seized a local unit of American food giant Cargill on Wednesday and threatened to nationalize Venezuela's largest private company, Polar, as he demanded industry produce cheaper rice.
The clash with the food companies came less than three weeks after Chavez, a Cuba ally who has nationalized swaths of the Venezuelan economy, won a referendum on allowing him to run for reelection.
"I warn you this revolution means business," said Chavez.
The anti-U.S. president is popular among the poor for pressuring companies to produce cheap goods and for government programs that provide subsidized food in city slums.
In recent days Chavez has seized some Polar rice mills after accusing the food industry of skirting his price controls and failing to produce enough cheap rice.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Let them eat oil!
Beginning?
There's already a food shortage there.
I was disappointed when the USA was placid at the oil expropriation(Exxon, Chevron, etc). This has enboldened them. Communists will continue to encroach on other peoples property until they are pounded down. Will be interesting to see what happens with Citgo.
Or less. Perhaps Chavez good buddy Sean Penn can feed them.
Good thing Chavez is gonna ban elections... he will have lost his base as a result.
Foreign investment in US companies can certainly be a great thing with great upside. Unfortunately, it can also have some downside as well. I suspect will be seeing more downside in the coming months, rather than up.
Please!
Are Exxon and Chevron no longer considered American companies?
Chavez stole their assets long ago.
Unlike coups and dictatorships, democracies can elect popular demagogues and the voters ultimately will be held responsible. Thus when Venezeula starves, the US who have been insulted and vilified by the leader they elected must live with the consequences. Let Venezeulans starve. That will teach the rest of Latin America and their political class not to use Americans as a step ladder to power or a punching bag.
Three years from now, Chavez will have fled Venezuela, or will have faced the business end of a rifle.
I’m thinking world food shortage.
The destruction of food producers and government ration books are a key Marxist technique.
This is the “Cubafication” of the once food-rich Venezuela.
That wasn't Chavezz doing the expropriating, either. He was in school at the time.
Point is: don't invest in Venezuela or Mexico EVER, unless -- as our fellow FReeper Eric-in-the-Ozarks says, you can arrange to take hostages.
This was a confidence building exercise for all those oil companies that do work in Venezuela on government IOUs.
spyone - There’s excess capacity and from the way the economy looks, there’s going to be excess capacity for a while. Still, it would be nice to have our wells ready when oil prices get back up there.
Yup...me too.
I was there a couple of times in the early ‘90s, looked for Polar here in the USA, couldn’t find it. I’d pass on it now just because of sluggo.
There will be riots and massive chaos and thievery. Mostly because people still have to eat, even after all the money has all been stolen by Hugo.
Socialism NEVER works.
Sounds a lot like Stalin seizing all the farmers food and grains because they failed to meet the quota's he set.
I guess all those "poor" hungry Venezualians who Voted for Chavez are going to be scratching their heads and rubbing their empty bellies wondering why they have no rice when dear leader "cracked the whip" at the "evil" food processors.
-looked for it in California at a couple of places purportng to have all the world’s beers when I got back , too—no luck—
Time to bring out the pressure cooker and mason jars?
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